


Rings

by loudspeakr



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: (the result of many feels), Birthday Presents, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hiking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-21 21:37:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8261210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loudspeakr/pseuds/loudspeakr
Summary: Link takes Rhett to visit his birthday present.





	

**Author's Note:**

> My second submission for the Rhink Fall Ficathon 2k16 for the prompt "Rhett has a conversation with a tree".
> 
> But the main inspiration was [GMMore 998 - Rhett's Birthday Surprise](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q21nmMfGPao), which - at the time of writing - only came out just under four hours ago. I admittedly had a lot of feelings as a result, and - as Lin-Manuel Miranda aptly put it - "I wrote my way out, wrote everything down far as I could see, I wrote my way out" of those goddamn feelings but honestly I'm still feeling pretty dang overwhelmed because LINK BOUGHT RHETT SOME REDWOODS THAT ARE TALL AND STRONG LIKE RHETT IN LINK'S OWN WORDS AND I JUST CAN'T THINK ABOUT IT ANYMORE OR I'LL DEFINITELY IMPLODE.
> 
> Err, um, _anyway_ , enjoy!

The drive itself was uneventful.

They’d done something like this before, of course. With just the two of them from the east coast to the west, the Mythical Road-Trip had taken them just over a week to complete. A mere ten hours overnight on an open highway would be nothing in comparison.

And so it was: the two friends left just before midnight – after Link had spent the entire day sleeping in preparation while Rhett pored over the maps – and made their way slowly but steadily northbound across California.

By the time the odometer clicked over to its six-hundred-and-seventy-third mile since they left home, the sun had beckoned in a new day. The air was crisp, and Link flinched at its icy touch as his door swung open. He climbed out of the FJ Cruiser and stretched his limbs.

“Can we nap first, brother? Man’s gotta rest.”

Rhett offered no verbal reply, answering with only the impatient crunching of forest floor underfoot.

Despite his silence now and during the ride over, Link knew Rhett was excited. He’d caught his friend several times in the past few weeks alone staring blankly in the direction of the makeshift certificate Link had printed for him. Despite his lack of attention in creating it, it now hung above Rhett’s desk in their office, displayed proudly behind a pane of glass, bordered appropriately with a rustic wooden picture frame.

“Link, take a look at this.”

The sound of Rhett’s voice, croaky with disuse, caught Link’s attention. He made his way around the truck to where Rhett stood, looking up in awe. Following his friend’s gaze, Link saw them, too.

He was not unused to seeing tall trees, having spent his childhood traipsing in and among the thick of North Carolinian forests with his best friend at his side. But Californian Redwoods were something else entirely. There was no other way to describe them: they _towered_ , going on for miles, it seemed, the splash of deep green that were their canopies being the only sign that they eventually ended.

They faced up to the wall of ancient Redwoods, feeling strange at the newfound sensation of being smaller. Even Link had to fight back a wave of chills in the trees’ grand presence.

“Well,” Rhett began before stepping away, unable to delay the hike any longer. Behind him, Link ran to the truck to retrieve his backpack before setting off to catch up.

With no reliable signal to power their phone apps, Link had to rely on his old camping equipment, a compass in one hand and a paper map in the other, the former of which he’d dug out of his garage and the latter he purchased at a truck stop along the way. It felt good to flex his orienteering muscles again after years of relying on technology to get him where he needed to go. If anything, the inconvenience of having to juggle a large flimsy map while he walked was oddly refreshing to him.

Rhett, on the other hand, was unintentionally leading the way, despite Link being the self-proclaimed navigator. He walked on, never more than a few feet ahead of Link, not once looking backwards as if his feet knew the way. It wasn’t unusual for a hike of theirs to operate this way: with Link focused on his equipment yet trailing behind, and Rhett, carefree but confident in his ability to eventually become _un_ -lost again. On occasion, Rhett would manage to find their destination in the end, though Link would always argue that it was blind luck rather than the result of any intentional effort on his friend’s part.

Consulting the map once more, Link halted.

“Rhett,” he called to his friend, who stopped in his tracks. “I think it’s just a little ways that way.” He pointed, Rhett’s gaze following along, and there, a short distance from where they stood, was a small clearing between the trees.

The Rhettwoods.

Careful not to trod on any saplings, the two men made their way over, Link falling into step behind his friend. Rhett’s trees were easy enough to find: the ten of them had been arranged – as per his request – in a wide circle, at least twenty feet apart from one another. They were no older than a year old now, having been planted soon after Link purchased them last fall for Rhett’s thirty-ninth birthday. Link watched Rhett survey his small trees, his eyes wide and soft as he took in the sight before him. He approached the one closest to him.

“Hey, little buddy,” Link could barely hear Rhett say, watching his friend gently pet one of the sapling’s leaves. He then set off around the circle, inspecting each plant in the same cautious, quietly proud way before moving onto the next. They each cleared Rhett’s knees now, Link noticed with a touch of relief, a good sign that their relocation here had been successful.

While Rhett made his rounds, Link laid out the picnic rug, lying back with his arms folded behind his head. It was peaceful here, a serene calm after the whirlwind that was the year just gone by. Taking advantage, he shut his eyes in meditation, until eventually he felt Rhett sit down beside him, a brush of Rhett’s leg against his.

“Can you imagine?” Rhett mused, thinking aloud. “These things are going to be massive one day. They’ll be bigger than you and me. We won’t even be around when that happens, man.”

Link yawned and took a peek at Rhett, squinting in the sunlight that shot through the trunks around them in golden beams. His oldest friend was drawing in the dirt with a stick he’d found, looping circle around circle around circle.

“Can you believe how fast they grow?” Rhett was saying. “Several feet a year after slow growin’ for the first few. And look around! Look at how big their trunks will get. It’s a good walk to get around ‘em once, even for me. I almost tripped earlier on one of the big one’s roots pokin’ outta the ground. But it looks like my cathedral’s comin’ along nicely.” There was a pause before Rhett spoke again, his voice laced with reverence. “They’re just one ring down, Link.” Another circle. “They’ve got so many more to go.”

“Rings,” Link scoffed, smiling. “You mean, _layers_?”

“Sure, they’ve got layers, too.”

Shaking off the tiredness that clung to his system, Link leaned over and took the stick from Rhett before scratching at the middle of the smallest circle. An _L_ in the centre.

“There,” Link said, returning the stick and closing his eyes again. “Because I _gave_ you the first layer.”

He heard Rhett chuckle beside him. “True to life, I guess.”

Silence fell between them once more, as they listened to the life that thrived around them. A light wind rustled through the leaves that hung high above them, and a bird called out from beyond, the sound reverberating through the landscape.

“Happy birthday, Rhett.”

This was no North Carolina, but there among the Redwoods, it sure felt like home.

“Thanks, buddy.”

**Author's Note:**

> Your kudos + comments are always appreciated <3


End file.
